Central Bureau of Statistics annual report also lists most popular baby names as Yosef for boys and Tamar for girls.

The population of Israel now stands at 8,904,373 people, according to the annual report by the Central Bureau of Statistics released ahead of the Jewish New Year.

“Israel’s population has passed eight million,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the weekly Cabinet meeting. “No less important, for the first time in the history of the State of Israel, more than six million Jews live here. This number has great significance in light of our people’s history in the previous century as well as in the current one.”

The census showed that since Rosh Hashana last year, 24,801 people immigrated to Israel.

The country welcomed 176,230 babies — 90,646 boys and 85,584 girls.

The report listed the most popular Jewish names given the babies as Yosef, Daniel, Uri, Itay and Omer (for boys) and Tamar, Noa, Shira, Adelle and Talia (for girls).

Other figures included 140,591 people registering their marriages, while 32,457 divorced.

Comments

Viva Sarah Press reports on the creativity, innovation and ingenuity taking place in Israel. Her work has been published by international media outlets including Israel Television, CNN, Reuters, Time Out and The Jerusalem Post.